Friday, 2 February 2018

The snobbery of Peak living

Hong Kong Island.in the sixties
Over a period of Two years plus I had the opportunity to visit some of the homes of the more well to do residents of Hong Kong IE Fragrant Harbour, Due to the clouds and mist most of these homes had a strange odour of dampness, some of these homes were quite old and unlike the apartment My family occupied on Wongneichong road which circumnavigated 'Happy Valley race course, Being the first occupants in 1962 the Three blocks of twenty Apartments ten story's high were high spec and sumptuous. but nothing like the vastly high blocks of concrete which replaced them in 1997 when they were demolished.
While in Hong Kong I had the dubious luck to come in contact with many celebs of sorts and one being a Arthur Halliwell of Brit Daily Mirror fame who wrote a column under the title of Cassandra, who you may remember if you are aged like myself; was the villain in the lawsuit brought by the famous Liberace against the Brit Daily Mirror columnist Cassandra AH himself. This Vitriolic attack on Liberace cost the Daily mirror lots of Dosh.In 1956 Daily Mirror columnist Cassandra wrote a vitriolic attack on Liberace that he took as an accusation that he was homosexual. He sued for libel, swore under oath in the witness box that he was straight, and won. His award of £8,000 damages and £14,000 costs equates to £14,000,000 and £24.400,000...today.
My meeting with Arthur Halliwell was when he had been invited to a party within our Base and while waiting to be escorted recalled the party he had attended 'Up the Peak', when this well oiled Brit dowager stated, " Lovely Party Darling 'Hic' I don't think there is a soul here who lives below MAY Road"..

Stumbled across this web site last week, today i was reading it when i remembers my dad talking about wonchi in honkers and the kit kat club across the water and other wicked stuff he got up to he was a young od in the australian navy.

Hello Josh. Your dad must be pushing it a bit. tell him he was a very naughty daddy to use the Bars in Wanchai there was no shortage of wickedness in that area.

Vividly do I remember the Posh Kit Kat lounge in Nathan road Kowloon, An Afro Yank was the main entertainer, Larry Allen. One night my wife bet our friend David Griffith Lt RN retired, fifty bucks he wouldn't kiss the current showbiz guy? Danny La Ru; full on. He did and the photo on the wardroom notice board created a stir.

How some attitudes have changed over the decades - for the better. That someone had to lie and hide away their true identity for fear of the false ignorant judgments of others was/is terrible. I couldn't give a damn then or now whether Liberace was gay or straight or in between....he had a wonderful talent and he loved to entertain - and was excellent at his craft.

Mr. Halliwell comes across to me as being a hypocrite if he wrote under the name of "Cassandra". Did he have something to hide, I wonder?

Lee. I have often wondered Why A H chose Cassandra as a pen name; i suppose we will never know; also I don't recall whether or not he was a married person. seems unlikely. In most cases, Journo's tend to embellish the facts in order to attract more interest from their information.My Wife and I had five sons all of which were were doing well in their chosen paths. However, our fifth son was married with two children for eight years then he came out as they say, mind you we were not surprised as we knew all along it was a time bomb waiting to go off although we loved him and helped him as much as possible there was little gratitude in return. his indebtedness to me has been written off but I still get requests for more and occasionally I give in to his requests the reason being is because despite his fiscal failings I still love him. I feel as if I am a Mr Bucket Husband of Mrs Bouquet and My son "Oh its you Sheridon" And Mr Bucket say's "How much this time.". BTW he lives up in Banana land so Watch out. Thank you for calling.

About Me

Ardent family orientated bloke,love my family lots.
Love Australia my Beautiful adopted country, but remember passionately my home village, Chalgrove in Oxfordshire, England. My favourite friends would include several shipmates I am in close contact with who served with me while in the British Royal Navy ..going back a fair bit.
There is also the silence of my age, too full of wisdom for the tongue to utter it - in words intelligible to those who have not lived-the great range of my life.
Vest.GSM, LSGCM, WM, B/PM, ITM, UNM, K-N M, EOW M, Asia- PAC M. ROYAL NAVY 25yrs, Retired.